Brown used to being masked man
The mask seems to fit Jaylen Brown pretty well.
Four nights after he debuted the mask in the All-star Game — where he scored a team-high 35 points for Team Lebron — Brown returned to real action after missing four games before the break, and didn’t look bothered at all by the fitted black mask on his face. Brown scored 30 points in leading the Celtics to a 142-138 overtime victory over the Pacers on Thursday night.
Unlike the All-star Game, which Brown described as a “glorified layup line” because of the effort it was played with, Thursday’s return was the first time Brown played with the mask on in a fullspeed game with contact. He’s still getting comfortable with it, naturally.
“It’s going to take some getting used to,” Brown told reporters in Indiana. “It’s just some things I need to adjust and adapt to, but I will. Today was the first, I would say real game with it on. I think it went fine, but it’s going to definitely take some getting used to and some adjustments and being able to adapt to it, but so far, so good.”
Brown told reporters that he’s expecting to have the mask on for games for 4-6 weeks, and one week has already passed.
“We’re going to be real acquainted with each other after this duration,” Brown said of the mask.
Brown is wearing a mask because he suffered a facial fracture in the Celtics’ win over the 76ers on Feb. 8, when he inadvertently caught an elbow from Jayson Tatum while they were both chasing an offensive rebound. Brown immediately left the game and didn’t return, then missed four consecutive games before the All-star Game.
While he’s still getting adjusted to the mask, it didn’t affect how he approached Thursday’s game but he’s still getting used to some of the unique nuances of wearing it.
“It’s pretty thick,” Brown said. “Sometimes it gets a little hot on your face, but I felt protected, I didn’t shy away from contact, I didn’t feel like I had to alter my game or anything like that. It gets a little uncomfortable at times, and then sometimes you have to get your head around and make sure you see everything, if somebody is coming from behind or somebody’s in your side view, but just be able to make those adjustments, you have to keep your head up and see the floor.”
Scary moment
Tatum had a rough 9-for25 shooting performance — which included a 2-for-12 start — in Thursday’s win and he joked about a hangover from his All-star break vacation that contributed to it. But a scary fall early in the game may have also played a factor.
With 2:48 left in the first quarter, Tatum made a strong drive to the basket in transition and was called for a charge as he collided with former teammate Aaron Nesmith. But as he crashed to the floor, he landed on his ailing left wrist. He jumped up immediately to shake it off and stayed in the game.
Tatum suffered a small fracture in his left wrist last season and played through it throughout the Celtics’ run to the NBA Finals. It’s still been lingering this season, and Tatum has taped it for every game. He admitted some fear after Thursday’s fall.
“That was scary,” Tatum told reporters. “They always teach you not to put your hand out, but it was so quick. I jumped up so quick because I was scared, and I was just moving my hand because that’s the one that’s been bothering me for a year now. Falling right on it, I was really just like trying to see if I could open and close it, if I had strength, and it was painful for 5-10 minutes. But I got it looked at. It’s sore, but I’ll be all right.”
Tatum ultimately rounded into form and shot 7-for-14 in the second half, and should be OK for Saturday night’s game against the 76ers in Philadelphia.
“Just iced it, wrap it on the flight and get some rest,” Tatum said.
Tough decisions
Thursday marked just the second time this season that the Celtics started their preferred five of Tatum, Brown, Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Robert Williams — a group that had only played 29 minutes together before the All-star break because of several injuries. Tatum is hoping that starting group — which was by far the Celtics’ best lineup last season in their run to the Finals — can regain their chemistry heading into the playoffs.
“I don’t know what the numbers are, but it feels like we haven’t played with that group a lot this season, so we know what we can get to. It’s just using these last (22) games or so to get back to that point going into the playoffs,” he said.
When the Celtics are fully healthy, like on Thursday, it presents some interesting decisions for coach Joe Mazzulla to make with the plethora of depth he has at his disposal and the multitude of lineup combinations he can work with depending on matchups.
On any given night, the Celtics have 13 players who can make a big impact. On Thursday, it was interesting to note how Mazzulla used his bench. Derrick White — who shined as a starter during Smart’s 11game absence — and Malcolm Brogdon were the bench’s biggest contributors. Sam Hauser played 13 minutes and was effective. Luke Kornet was the first backup big to play, but he and Grant Williams didn’t play in the second half. Trade deadline addition Mike Muscala didn’t play at all, and neither did Blake Griffin or Payton Pritchard.
Whatever options he chooses, though, Mazzulla has faith that egos won’t get in the way and that everybody is willing to play whatever role needed in pursuit of a title.
“I’m just grateful,” Mazzulla told reporters. “Over time, everybody has asked me about the Grants, the Malcolms, the Derricks, and I’ve always said we need guys like that because of their humility and their competitive nature. They understand that regardless of the situation is, they’re ready to play and ready to execute. Tonight, it was Malcolm and it can be either one of those guys. You have to have guys like that.”